Fight City Hall - online

Nearly 10 million parking tickets are issued each year by the City of New York and over a million of them are contested by motorists. Almost half of disputed tickets are ultimately dismissed.

That’s a testament to the determination of those who fight their tickets all the way through to a favorable disposition. The fact is, the process of contesting a ticket for a parking violation too often has been a major inconvenience.

Usually, it has meant leaving your home or office, missing time at work and waiting in long lines at finance centers to go before an administrative law judge.

Now the city is offering an easier way. Mayor Bloomberg has just unveiled a system that allows New Yorkers to use a computer to challenge tickets they receive for parking or running a red light. It allows drivers who feel they have been wronged to submit written rebuttals online and to upload supporting evidence, such as photos and documents.

This is a welcome development and it comes amid the chronic furor over whether the city exerts pressure on police officers and traffic enforcement agents to write bunches of tickets largely as a way to raise revenue for the cash-strapped city.

The Bloomberg administration refutes that widespread suspicion, of course.

“Enforcing our traffic laws is critically important to protecting public safety, promoting business activity, and reducing gridlock and congestion,” Mr. Bloomberg said.

Still, not every ticket is deserved. Far from it.

For some time, New Yorkers have been able to dispute tickets online without being able to upload their evidence. Which meant that only incorrectly written tickets could be dismissed that way without an in-person hearing. ”No one likes to get a ticket, but it shouldn’t have to be so difficult and time-consuming to contest one,” the mayor pointed out. “This new program will make it much easier and faster to contest a ticket - and save New Yorkers from having to take off work do it.”

He called the digital option a “win-win” situation for both the city and its citizens.

Of course, most of the people who contest summonses on line will lose their cases, but at least they won’t be so inconvenienced in doing so. On-line hearings will speed processing, trim the costs of paperwork and boost the productivity of judges, who can do their job more efficiently.

“Every New Yorker has a story about the parking ticket they didn’t deserve but never bothered to fight because it wasn’t worth making the trek down to traffic court,” City Council Transportation Chair James Vacca said. “In a city where time is money, allowing motorists to challenge tickets online will save New Yorkers - and the city - a little bit of both.”

Once a ticket is contested online, an administrative law judge will consider the case and send back the decision via e-mail.

Not only can violations involving parking and red-light cameras now be disputed online; so can tickets issued by 13 city agencies for violating safety, health and environmental laws.

The city’s Environmental Control Board, an independent administrative tribunal, adjudicates about 250,000 cases a year. Quality-of-life tickets issued to individuals and businesses include violations for littering, failure to clean sidewalks, lack of recycling, pest control, unleashed dogs and snow and ice removal.

To contest a parking ticket, red-light camera violation or an Environmental Control Board ticket, visit the city’s Web site (www.nyc.gov), where you can find the online links.